Dry-kiln.



No. 838,227. PATBNTED DEC. 11, 1906. A.- WHITE.

- DRY KILN. APPLIUATIOH FILED MAR. 26, 19M.

2 SKEETB-sHBET 1.

@mmlM/o Urrrrnn s'rarss FATENT @FFEGEQ ARTHUR WHlT-E, @F SHEBOYGANFALLS; WISCONSIN.

' net-trust.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Dec. 11, 1906.

Zo all whom it may concern.- I

Be it known that I, ARTHUR Wnrrn, resid ing in Sheboygan Falls, inthecounty of Sheboygan and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Dry- Kilns, of which the following is a description,

had to the accompanying are a part of this specificaby the moist hot airon leaving the lumber or other material being dried is carried intocontact with a condensing-surface formed by a sheet-metal roof and afterhaving the moisture abstracted therefrom by condensation is returned tothe heating a para'tus to again pass around the materia being operatedupon.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a dry-kiln withmeansfor adjustably limiting the air-passe es so that the air circulation maybe contro led and to enable.

the air bein confined within the drying chamber wit out circulation atthe beginning of the drying operation, whereby the materialoperated-upon may be thoroughly lation is established the dryingoperation will take place throu hout the material instead of at thesurface on y.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for artificiallycooling the condensing-shrfa'ce formed'by the roof during warm Weather.

Another object of this invention is to imroveu on details ofconstruction of a dry- -ln of t stype, to render it more efficient inits 0 eration.

With the above and other ob ects in view the invention consists in the d-k1lI1 herein claimed, its parts and combinations of parts, and allequivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which like characters of reference mdi: cate the same partslin bothviews, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view of a dry-kiln constructedin accordance with this invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal.sectional view thereof, taken on the plane 0t line 2 2 of Fig. .1, theline 11 of Fig. .2 indicatingthe sectional planes of Fig. 1.

In the draw1ngs,'5 represents the upright at later on when circuwalls,preferably of cement construction, I

which mclose the substantially rectangular drying-chamber, which issealed at the bottorn by a cement flooringv 6 to prevent the waste ofenergy in drawing moisture from the oundbeneath and which is covered byan inclined roof 7, of thin sheet metal, to form a condensin -surface,as will be later eX-.- plained. lhe sheet-metal roofing is sup. portedby a network of T-rails 8, whichjexe tend longitudinally andtransversely of the drying-chamberwith their flanges interlocking, andat intervals the sheet-metal coverin forms upstandin ridges by beingclampe u on the upward -extending flanges of para lel T-rails 9, restingupon this network and gxtending longitudinally of the drying-chamer. -Atthe frontend of the drying-chamber is located a door 10, which controlsthe only opening to the interior, and through the doorway a pair oftrucks 11, containin lune.- ber 12 or other material to be drie ,mayenter on tracks 13, which are supported some. distance above the flooron cement pillars 14., In the spaces between the illars 14 and beneaththe trucks are locate series of heatingcoils 15, supplied with steam bysteam-pipes 16, which extend transversely through the drying-chamber, soas to be common to other drying-chambers arrangedalongside of the oneshown'in event of the construction being in multiple, as is usual. 4

Somedistance below the roof 8 and parallel with it extends an I-beam 17down the middleof the dr ing-chamber and directly above the space etweenthe "two trucks of lumber. This I-beam is supported at its ends uponledges 18, which roject inwardly from the front and rear wal s of thedrying-v chamber and extend from side to side thereof. Crossbeams 19connect with the I- beam 17 and extend from one side of thedrying-chamber to the other. A sheetmetal partition-plate 20 is locatedalong'each side wall of the dryin -chamber at a short distance therefromto orm a return-passage "therebetween and, extends from the front wallto the rear wall of the drying-chamber and from brackets 21 a shortdlstance above the floor and below the heating-coils 15 to the level .ofthe I-beam 17. At the upper end of each partition is an inclined cover.member 22, which extends over the truck of lumber on that side of thedrying-chamber to near the I-beam, being bent to form a rear wall andterminating in a trap or water seal 24c The I beam 17 is providedwitha-sheetmetal cap 25, which extends along it from end'to end,-withitheedges outstretched towald the overhanging covers 22. To these 1edgesiare h'inged'curved flaps 26, which are adapted to overlap the edgeof the covers22 fiaps 27 arehinged to the side walls of the.

aadare capable'rof swinging to increase or diminish the spaces betweenthem and the es of the covers. 22. Similarly-arranged dryingechamhertooverlap the outer-edges ofithe covers 22,-.and theymay also swing to"vary the spaces between 1 them and the covers. Amokohaft 28 extendsacross the drying'echamher beneath the I-beam 17, with its ends passingthrough the partition-plates .20

joumaled in the sidewalls of the dryingehamber, and arms 29 extendupwardly and torwardly therefrom, with rollers I on their ends to rideupon the hinged flaps 26 and 27. 2A craldoarm $0is connected with therockshaft28' at its middle portion and is pivotally conneetedto'ahandle-rod 31, passin thr h'enopeningina standard-32, whic isrigidisupported from thefioorythehander ed to e go the standard and hold therock-s aft ina ts'uarious adjustments. By pulling forwardly on thehandiesrod '31 the rock-shaft'iscaused to turn so as to lift the arms29,-and they in turn swing the flaps 26 and -.27 up'wardly'to open thepgssages between them andthecoversg22. e'rearward movementofl-thehandle-rod 31= causes the rock-shaft to swing inthe opposite'directionand allows the flaps to drop to a closed osisitionin engagement withthe: edges 0 the covers 22. to close the passages.

Whenit is desired'to provide for cooling.

the sheet-metal roof 7 by: artificialmeans, a

- series of spray-pipes 33. are supported above the roof and aresupplied with cold water under pressure from: aipipe -34, thewaterbeingrayod "through perforations of the spray; es over'theentirc'surface of the roof, thus cooling the thinsheetmetal formingthecondensing surface and facilitating the condensing operation. Besidesthecooling effoctproducedby bringingcool water in contact with the sheetmetal of the condensingsurface evaporation of moisture on the roof'will'act toincrease the cooling effect and materially-assist in thecondensation.

In operation a pair of trucks of lumber or other material to be driedare runvinto thev kllnthrou'gh the 0 en doors 10 and u n the rails 13,the hands-rod 30 is push to the rear, so" as to close all of thepassages coneingprov-ided with teeth on its un- 1 eases"? trolled byflaps 26 and 27, the doors are closed tightly, and the spaces betweenthe doors and rails are filled inv in any desirable manner, so as totightly seal the entire drying-chamber, Now steam is ,admitted to theheating-coils 15 and the drying-chamber is he t at a high temperaturefor a sufficient l'engt of time to enable the lumber orother materialbecoming heated throughout, and during this heating operation there isno circulation of air, so. that the air within thedrying-chtmberremainsmoist and there is no surface-drying of thematerial produced. If circulationshould be allowed at the'start, itwould tend to dr out'and contract the pores of the-surface e thewoodbefore the inner portion had become suficiently warm-to expel itsmoisture; but by preventing the circulation and keeping the air "aroundthe wood moist the surfaceores are ke t open, so that as the heart 0-the wood ecomes heated its moisture-maybe freely expelled. Thiscondition'of the apparatus is mainv the roof. The alr. being warm willrise to the surface of the sheet-metal-roof7,--which is kept cool by theouter atmosphere or by the artificial cooling means, so that themoisture of the air will become condensed and will drop to thetrough-shaped covers 22 orto the other parts, whichare all so shaped asto constitute troughs leading to the gutter in the rear ledge 18 wherebythe Water of c ondensa tion is all collected in {said gutter anddischarged through the-rear wall. After the air has become dry in thismannerit asses down through the openings 1 beneat the flaps 27 and intothe return-passages formed between the partition-plates 20'andthe sideWalls to the spaces beneath the-heating-coils 15, where it 1s reheatedto pass up through the lumber again and abstract'moremoisture therefromand continue this cycle of operation until the end of the dryingprocess,

all moisture'taken from the wood con-i densed and discharged from thekiln-1n the manner set forth. v

Obviously the ad-ustments of the flaps 6 may be accomplishe in anyotherdesirab manner without departing from the spirit and scopeof thisinvention. 'Likjewise other details ofconstruction may bra-modified ordeparted-from without aflecting the inven tion.

By reheating the same air over and over again and condensing themoisture therefrom the dryin operation is made much more economical thanwhen the moist air is discharged directly to the atmosphere and freshair taken in from the outside is required to be brought from theatmospheric temperature to the drying temperature.

That I claim as my invention is 1. In a dry-kiln, a drying-chamber, aroof covering the drying-chamber comprising a network of T-railsextendin across each other with their flanges interlocked, and asheet-metal covering supported by the framework, there beingpassage-ways lead-,

ing to and from the roof through which the moisture-laden air from thedrying-chamber may pass to produce condensation of the moisture.

2. In a dry-kiln, a drying-chamber, a roof covering the drying-chambercomprising a net-work of T-rails extending across each other with theirflanges interlocked, a series of parallel T-rails supported by thenetwork,-

her, a roof forming a condensing-surface, a

cover between the drying-chamber and the roof with a condensing-spaceabove it, a return-passage leading from the condensingspace to thedrying-chamber, means for controlling communication between thedryingehamber and the condensing-space and between the condensing-spaceand the returnpassage, and mechanism for operating the controllingmeans.

5. In a dry-kiln, walls containing a dryingchamber, a partition betweenone of the walls and the drying-chamber forming a returnpassage, a coverfor the drying-chamber conmeeting with the partition, a roof comprisinga condensing-surface above the cover with a condensing-spacetherebetween, a hinged llap for closing connnunic'ation between thedrying-chamber and the condensing-space, a hinged flap for controllingcommunication between the condensing-space and the returnpassage, andmeans'for moving the flaps.

6. In a dry-kiln, walls inclosing a drying-' chamber, partitions spacedfrom opposite walls to form return-passages therebetween, covers for thedrying-chamber connecting with the partitions and terminating at adistance from each other, a support extending between the covers, flapshinged thereto and adapted to close the space between the cov'ers,rhinged flaps adapted to close the returnpassages, a roofconstituting a condensingsurface above the covers, and means for movingthe flaps.

7. In a dry-kiln, walls inclosing a dryingchamber, partitions spacedfrom opposite side walls to form return-passages, inclined covers forthe drying-chamber connecting with the partitions and terminating at adistance from each other, ledges on the front and rear walls atdifferent elevations, a beam supported on the ledges and lying in thespace between the edges of the covers, hinged flaps carried by the beamand adapted to close the space between the covers, hinged flaps adaptedto close the return-passages, a roof forming a condensing-surface abovethe covers, a rock-shaft journaled across the dr ing-chamber, meanscarried by the roc shaft and bearing on the flaps, a crank-arm connectedwith the rock-shaft, a handle-rod connected with the crank-rod, asupport for the handle-rod, and teeth carried by the handle-rod forlocking the. rod in its adjustments by engaging the support whereby theflaps maybe held more or less open for the circulation of air forcondensation.

s. In a dry-kiln, walls inelosing a dryingchamber, partitions spacedfrom opposite side walls to form return-passages, inclined covers forthe drying-chamber connecting with the partitions and terminating at adistance from each other, ledges on the front and rear walls atdifferent elevations, a beam supported on the ledges and lying in thespace between the edges of the covers, hinged flaps carried by the beamand adapted to close the space between the covers, hinged flaps adaptedto close the return-passages, said covers and fla s being curved to formtroughs leading to t e ledge on the rear wall, said ledge being providedwith a gutter and spout to discharge water of condensation through thewall, a roof forminga eondensingsurface above the covers, a rock-shaftjournaled across theidrying-chamber, arms carried by the rock-shaft andbearing on the flaps, and means for turning the rock-shaft to open andclose the flaps for controlling the circulation of a r for condensation.I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR WHITE. Witnesses R. S. C. CA DWELL,

ANNA F. SOHMIDTBAUER.

